So It’s almost time to go back home. Exactly 2 weeks until me and Lotta are going to Kioto and from there I’m going to Kansai international Airport, Osaka.
We’re taking a night bus from Fukuoka to Kioto, which lasts 10 hours -.- can’t wait!

It’s hard to describe the experience I’ve had in Japan. Of course I’ve still have 2 weeks left, but it’s nothing compared to time I’ve spend here. It’s saddening that once you feel yourself comfortable in the new environment, you need to go back home. I’ve met so many awesome people and learned way more than I ever could have imagined.
During the time I last did an entry and this day we’ve been studying a lot and spend pleasant time with friends here in Fukuoka.
Adapting to Japanese culture hasn’t been that hard as you might have imagined, all the exchange students are in the same situation and it helps everyone to support each other’s. It’s been very challenging to take the culture as it is really but I believe each one of us has managed to do that in our own ways.
We’ve studied hard and had ups and downs, but the worst is yet to come. Exams, which all of them are held in 2 days. It’s a different way of giving the exams compared to Finland and even the thought of 2 FULL days of exams is exhausting. But we can do it! みんな、がんばって！
Now in Japan, we’re having a Golden Week which is a week full of different national holidays.
And I got sick! YEAAH. But I’m fine now ^^
It’s the time when every Japanese person is travelling and it’s the time for different events. Tomorrow we’ll be going to Dontaku festival here in Fukuoka. It’s a good opportunity to see more of Japanese culture and relax before make up classes and exams.
Nex time I’m gonna post something is probably when I’m already in Finland!

No pictures or Finnish translation this time..sorry ^^ it’s a holiday and I’m feeling lazy! 🙂

It’s been almost 2 of months since I last did an entry. I’ve been quite busy during these 2 months. Finally live is “normalized” here. Living here in Japan feels ALMOST normal now! We’ve been studying hard during these two months. Especially studying Japanese has been quite demanding but my skills have been improved a lot! (thanks to our amazing Japanese teachers). Sometimes we even have classes during Saturdays due to cancellations of normal classes. This really differs from studying in Finland.

At the moment it’s spring vacation for Japanese students (which is more than 1 month). Japanese semester ends in March and begins in April which means that our school is going to have new students in the beginning of the April. At the moment the campus is quite empty…just us international students and some hardworking students. Yaay! this means that it’s e.g possible to have a lunch while sitting 😀 Normally campus and cafeterias are really packed.

I’m very surprised I haven’t experienced a cultural shock yet. Maybe it’s because I had some knowledge of the language and culture before coming here. And as well people are so nice and I have some Finnish friends here as well. Of course I get homesick sometimes. And today it’s the day I’ve been here exactly half of the time I’m supposed spend in Japan. Feels pretty unbelievable! Time is literally running out.

We had a “spring break” during the beginning of the February. Me, Lotta and some other exchange students travelled to Busan, South Korea for 5 days. It took about 3 hours by the ferry and it was such a great trip. It really made me realize how much I actually understand Japanese culture and living, since in Korea I felt totally lost. I couldn’t understand language and after being used to Japanese manners I could say I experienced some kind of culture shock there.

During the weekends we’ve been trying Japanese food, singing Karaoke, visiting Izakayas, parks and even did some ice-skating and bowling. It’s been such an experience! And one thing I can’t wait is Hanami (“flower viewing”) meaning going to a park for a picnic when cherry trees are in their full blossom. Spring is here! It’s about +15*c here now in Fukuoka 🙂

So almost 2 weeks have passed since I arrived to Fukuoka. Today was the day that I’ve finally started all the courses I have chosen. Here’s the list of courses I’m taking this Spring Semester.

Beginning Japanese (3×2 credits)

Japanese Literature in English Translation (2 credits)

History of Japan (2 credits)

Traditional Culture of Japan (Shodoà Calligraphy) (2 credits)

Japanese Psychology and Society (2 credits)

Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy (2 credits)

Many of these courses seem quite interesting. For example in literature class we’ll be reading some significant Japanese books in English (modern literature). In Traditional culture class we’ll be learning about Shodo (Calligraphy). Our teacher is a former coach for a team which won Japan’s high school calligraphy competition in 2006. Can’t wait to make fool out of myself…since I’m not that artistic: D

Many of our courses have a translation since many of teachers can’t speak English.
The way of courses are conducted is quite similar than in Finland. Except the exception that attendance is well regulated and there’s not that much homework. Although Japanese class is quite hard! A lot of homework and tests almost every time…ugh!

Classes last 1½ hours and latest class I have finishes 17.50.
In here it’s possible to go for lectures for 2 weeks and after that decide if you want to enroll or not.

During past week we’ve been ordering pre-paid phones for ourselves. Should take max. 3 days to get it.

Besides studying have had time to go to Japanese Karaoke (awesome!), walk on the Momochi beach, shopping, eating out etc.
Fukuoka is a city where you can do almost everything you want. City has about 1,5 million citizens which makes is quite comfortable place to live in.

I thought living in here would be expensive…well it indeed has been thus we’ve had to buy a lot of things and pay our rent including rent for Futon etc. Food is nevertheless quite cheap! Love it.

Being here has been great! Except I miss FINNISH COFFEE among some other things…gosh 😀 Can’t take these vending machine sugar coffee’s anymore :DD

So today was the first official day of school. I attended 2 courses from 11am to 3pm.

Courses I had today were “Japanese politics and foreign policy” and Pre-intermediate Japanese.
We had a Russian teacher on politics class and what surprised me was that there will be no final exam. The course consists of teacher’s lectures and then our own presentations on topics related to issues dealing with foreign policy etc.
Pre-intermediate Japanese class totally opened my eyes. I have so much to learn and I definitely need to move down to “Beginning Japanese”. I have basically no knowledge of Kanji’s so this is not a suitable level for me. But at least in “Beginning Japanese” I have a possibility to some recap and learn more vocabulary and kanji’s as well.

School’s campus area is quite big. We have 2 cafeterias, own “supermarket”, ATM machines, Gym, Chapel and 3 buildings where classrooms are located. We can also use this huge library, in which to enter you need to use your student ID card.
Classrooms are quite simple.
I remember when in Finland, I was complaining all the time how cold it was…well not anymore! Cause in here it’s even colder inside. You need to basically wear your jacket in the classroom!

School’s cafeteria is awesome. There are plastic models for all the dishes and food is cheap. With 3-4 euros you can get pretty decent lunch. Only problem in the beginning is that ordering food is quite tricky If you don’t know how to read the names and pronounce them: D

But well…guess what I’m gonna do this evening? STUDY Hiragana and Katakana! 😀

Me and Lotta Watia arrived on Wednesday morning to Osaka Kansai airport and spend couple of hours in Osaka. After that we took a ferry to Fukuoka since there was no direct flight from Helsinki.
We left Helsinki 3rd of January and arrived to our dorm (Internationa house) around 8am 5th of January. It was a long trip but defnitely worth it. There was no problems at all which was quite a surprise. BUT when entering the border…surprise…my visa had a small problem. My sex was marked as “Male”. DO I LOOK LIKE MALE TO YOU? 😀 But nevertheless was able to enter Japan.

There were 2 students from Seinan Gakuin University to pick us up from Hakata station.
First day we were introduced with our room which is awesome! The whole dorm is great and the locations is superb.

During this past week we’ve been able to experience a lot. It’s hard to explain all in details.
We have wandered in the city, visited Tenjin which is a big shopping district, tried traditional Japanese Izakaya and visited Ohori Park, Japanese garden and famous Fukuoka Castle Ruins.
Tomorrow will be the first day of school! ^^

One thing I’ve realized is that although been studying Japanese for 1½ years I CAN’T speak Japanese. It takes a lot of courage for me to try…I do understand some but speaking is still quite troublesome.
We also had a Japanese placement test in which I was put into Pre-Intermediate level. I hope I can learn a lot though!

People are extremely nice and polite…They will always do whatever needed to help you! 🙂 And food is awesome.

I’ll try to post more often because no one wants to read this long posts, ne? 😀

Oh yeah, and boy do Japanese like their application forms! At least in our school you need to fill application form for everything! You should see my pile of papers!

Time for my first post!
Preparations for the exchange have been going pretty well so far.
At this point I have been accepted to the University, Visa and dormitory applications have been sent.
The whole process has been quite clear but dealing with all the papers, money issues and etc. has been way more demanding that I have expected. As a tip I would say that start in a EARLY phase…start gathering information about the school, country and especially start preparing yourself! You might have not thought all the things you need to take care of while your still in your home country. At least I didn’t…which is not a surprise at all!
Next step for me it’s the plane tickets! Can’t wait!
I’ll be posting whenever I feel there’s something worth of sharing with you 😀 But when I get to Japan I’m gonna start posting pictures and stories as often as possible! Be prepared! Could it be January already?

Blog service is offered by JAMK University of Applied Sciences|www.jamk.fi

About this blog

Hello and welcome to my blog "Lost In Translation" which deals with my exhange period in Seinan Gakuin University, Fukuoka, Japan. My exchange period is taking place in Spring semester 2012 and I'll be spending in total 4,5 months studying the language and culture of "The Land of The Rising Sun".

I'm a third year student studying Facility Management in JAMK University of Applied Sciences. The reason for choosing Seinan Gakuin as my exhange destination was that I have been studying Japanese for about 2 years now and I'm eager to learn more.

In this blog I'll be writing about preparing for the exchange, my studies, people, culture, food and about whatever I will face during this 4,5 months!

Name of the blog comes from my favorite movie "Lost in Translation" by Sofia Coppola. The movie triggered my interest on Japanese culture and the name of itself describes the hardships of understanding a new culture and language.